LackRack: Ikea server racks for living room datacenters

If people are standing or sitting on higher stools then the viewing angle should be ok so I would go for flat if you can to get more people to use it at once.

In order for it (LCD) to be transparent you will need to remove the backlight whic can be quite trick on the larger moniters and light it some other way as well as have the cammera far enough back to capture the whole lot.

The cammera is important as others have said with the lag, the wiimote one is 30fps i beleive and this can be had in other quality cammeras to so you just need one with an alright framerate and resolution.

The number of points tracked is dependant on the software that you use for tracking and the resolution of the cammera along with the physical size of the table each of these helps determine how many clearly defined points are able to be interprated by the system.

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Originally Posted by fafster

I'm building it in my head, and I'm torn between flat or sloped. I'm just thinking sitting over a flat table wouldn't do wonders for your lower back, especially as you can't tuck your legs underneath, meaning leaning further.

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That's the thing - all the demos I've seen of "table computing" over the years have involved bunches of arty-looking types stood around a table whizzing pictures around in a vauge-but-snazzy-looking manner. I don't think table-based interfaces are going to be a replacement for current verticle displays, they're a new, different type of interface, used for different, more collaberative, tasks than individual computers with screens.

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How many points can the wiimote handle simultaneously?

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I seem to remember Johnny Chung Lee's website mentioning built-in hardware support for tracking of four IR "blobs" at a time.

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David Hicks

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Originally Posted by SYNACK

In order for it (LCD) to be transparent you will need to remove the backlight whic can be quite trick on the larger moniters and light it some other way as well as have the cammera far enough back to capture the whole lot.

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I'm looking into using an energy efficient lightbulb in mine, with a diffuser to even it out. I know a lot of people don't like them for not being strong enough, but I can't see it being an issue in a box half a metre to a side.

With regards to the camera, I'm thinking the PS3 Eye may be the best option as lots of people are having good results with it. I'll try the cheapy logitech one I have on hand at the moment, first, before spending any extra.

I called up a local builder's merchant, and they could cut me 6mm acrylic. Ideally I'd like 8mm, but 6mm over the span of a 19" monitor shouldn't flex. For 600mm x 600mm they've quoted me £40. I'd be having roughly 400mm x 300mm so it'll be cheaper than that. There may be offcuts available though. I'm also going to use a 2mm piece to hold the lcd.

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Originally Posted by dhicks

if you got a "gaming" PC capable of supporting 4 screens, with a decent amount of RAM and a decent processor, and installed Linux on it along with a modified window manager that could support multiple mouse/keyboard input (see MPX: The Multi-Pointer X Server). Then have Windows Server running as a VM on the same machine to provide Terminal Services

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Oh, problem solved:

Poor Man's Multi-Touch: using multiple mice with Xorg | en bug | ao2.it
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPX]Multi-Pointer X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

It looks like multi-pointer features are going to be included in the next version of Ubuntu, so the system I describe above should be pretty much plug-and-play. You've just got to find a motherboard with enough slots in to plug a bunch of graphiocs cards in (4 cards with 2 VGA ports each seems a practical limit at the moment), configure X Windows, plug in a bunch of mice and keyboards and away you go.

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David Hicks

Well I've been playing about in Sketchup, and this is my progress so far. I've designed an exploded version of the table I intend to build.

It'll be a bunch of 34mm (2"x2") square planed timber for the frame, plus a load of 5mm mdf for the sides and spacers, etc.

The LCD screen will sit on a 2mm sheet of perspex, and I'll have a 6mm sheet for FTIR above. LEDs will be held in place in a wooden frame, with 14 along the long side and 10 on the short. 30mm intervals I'm planning on using at the moment.

This is pretty exciting!

I think the wiimote would definately be a good camera for this:

Johnny Chung Lee - Projects - Wii

Ben

Just came accross this thread again and thought I'd quickly update: Ikea "Lack" coffee tables can indeed be used to hold 19" rack-mount equipment, but their legs are hollow so you'll be needing bolts, with appropriate nuts and washers, long enough to go through the complete width of the leg to hold the device in place with any degree of reliability. This will also probably not make them suitible for heavier items like 4U servers and so on, although our 1U switch seems to be hanging on just fine.

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David Hicks

Im thinking theres loads more ikea furniture with potential unique cabs!